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Sir Thomas Finney, OBE (born April 5 , 1922 , Preston ) is a former English Association Football er famous for his loyalty to his league club, Preston North End F.C. , and for his performances in the English National Side . EARLY LIFE Finney was born at home in Preston, England on a street next to the Deepdale stadium. He was frail and somewhat sickly in his youth and stood only 1.45 M (4 Foot 9 Inch ) at the age of fourteen. When he was offered the opportunity to sign for his local club, his father insisted that he complete his Apprenticeship in the family's Plumbing business before signing as a professional. SECOND WORLD WAR Soon after he signed, however, World War II began and normal football was suspended, though Finney started to achieve some recognition during war-time tournaments. Called up to the Royal Armoured Corps in 1942 , he fought in Montgomery's Eighth Army in Egypt . Local leave in North Africa allowed him to play in army teams against local opposition and on one occasion he played against the future Actor Omar Sharif . POST-WAR CAREER AND ENGLAND DEBUT Once normal competition was restored, he made his debut for the club in August 1946 and soon established himself as an agile forward, capable of playing on either wing or in the centre. Post-war demand for plumbers ensured that he had a second income to supplement the GBP 14 he received under football's Maximum Wage regulations, and he became famous as the "Preston plumber". One month after his first appearance for Preston, Finney made his England debut, going on to win 76 Cap s and score 30 goals. RETIREMENT He retired from Preston North End in 1960 , only when forced out with a persistent Groin injury. He had played his entire career for his local club, appearing 433 times and scoring 187 goals. The balance of Preston's team hardly matched Finney's brilliance, the young Bill Shankly notwithstanding, and he never won a major trophy. His loyalty is remarkable, even extending to rejecting a 1952 offer from Italian club Palermo that included a GBP 10,000 personal signing-on fee and high pay and perquisites. CONTINUING LINKS WITH PRESTON NORTH END He also writes a regular PNE column for the University Of Central Lancashire 's Students' Union Newspaper , Pluto . QUOTES ABOUT FINNEY
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